Tom Kouros

Meritorious Service

Tom Kouros
City: Deer Park
State: IL
Inducted: 2009

Best-selling author, world-class bowling instructor, bowling center owner, creator of the only state-accredited bowling instructional course and one of the foremost experts on the sport and the industry are words that best describe Kouros. He started his career in bowling as a pinboy in his native Chicago. He was named one of the best pinboys in the nation from 1939 to 1941. He was a member of DePaul University's 1953 Midwest Intercollegiate Championship team and won 11 singles and doubles events from 1949-55. A long-tenured bowling proprietor, he remains active at River Rand Bowl in Des Plaines, Ill. He is a past president and past secretary treasurer of Chicago's Northwest Bowling Proprietors Association. His book "Par Bowling" has sold more than 800,000 copies, among the best sellers in bowling history. He followed that book with "Par Bowling: The Challenge." His Institute of Professional Bowling Instruction was accredited by the Department of Education, State of Illinois, and is the only course of its kind. He has taught bowlers young and old, from seasoned professionals to top amateurs to children with Down syndrome. He's conducted hundreds of clinics in the United States and in more than 20 countries worldwide. For several years, he served as technical adviser to the World Tenpin Bowling Association. Kouros was cofounder and past president of the Mid-America Bowling Writers. He has been a columnist for the Bowlers Journal International for more than 30 years, winning numerous writing awards. Among the honors he has received are the 2001 Flowers for the Living Award, Illinois Distinguished Service Award, 2002 International Coach of the Year Award (first recipient) by the World Bowling Writers and elected into the Illinois Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 2005.